Breezy Point: A Focal Point of Sandy’s Wrath
The beach community of Breezy Point, home to many city firefighters, became a scene of unimaginable destruction as it burned to the ground.
Andrew Lichtenstein / FCDA
New York City firefighters helped build the beach community of Breezy Point a hundred years ago, but on Monday night they had to stand back and watch it burn, prevented from helping by the torrent of water that had flooded the neighborhoodís streets. Storm surge from Hurricane Sandy made roads impassable and covered fire hydrants while gusts whipped burning embers from house to house. With the volunteer fire department's own station flooded, radios down, and phones dead, they could do little but evacuate people by boat and try to keep the fire from spreading. They saved the house of Sheila Scandole, whose husband was one of the 30 Breezy Point residents who died in the Sept. 11 attacks, but more than 100 other homes burned to their foundations by the time the tide receded.
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